CU Buffs position overview: Outside linebackers

During the past month, as Colorado football players have been learning remotely and working out on their own at home, Carson Wells has been staying in shape by working on the family farm in Florida.

“He’s farm strength strong, so he’ll be fine,” CU strength and conditioning coordinator Drew Wilson said of Wells.

For now, the Buffs are happy to see Wells handling cattle on the farm, but they’d love to see him wreaking havoc on quarterbacks soon.

The spread of COVID-19 has created stay-at-home orders around the country and uncertainty about the 2020 football season, but CU continues to prepare and BuffZone is previewing each position group for the Buffs. In this installment, we look at the outside linebackers.

Leading the group is Wells, who is by far the most experienced outside linebacker on the team after the Buffs lost three key contributors to graduation.

Five of the eight outside linebackers on the roster have never played a defensive snap for the Buffs and two others – senior Jash Allen and junior Jamar Montgomery – have combined for 53 career snaps at CU.

Wells, meanwhile, is one of the top players on the Buffs’ defense. He’s played 913 snaps over the past two seasons and finished 2019 ranking fifth on the team in tackles (57).

Wells shook off a slow start, which included an injury that cost him two games, to finish strong last year. He played well down the stretch and will look to get even better as a junior. CU is especially hoping for more sack production out of Wells. After registering 4.5 sacks in 2018, he had just one last year.

It isn’t just Wells needing more sacks, though. As a team, the Buffs had only 24 sacks in 2019, ranking 10th in the Pac-12. Only seven of those came from the outside linebackers.

Despite the lack of experience, the Buffs have intriguing talent to get more pressure on the quarterback from the edge.

Guy Thomas comes to the Buffs after playing last year at Coahoma (Miss.) Community College. He previously played two seasons at Nebraska, redshirting in 2017 and playing in four games in 2018. At Coahoma last year, Thomas had 39 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and three sacks in only six games played.

Thomas’ collegiate experience could give him an edge in the competition for playing time, but coaches are expecting the battles in practice to be fierce.

Allen, a senior, came to CU as a junior college transfer last year and started out at inside linebacker. He moved to the outside during the season and aims to make an impact in his final collegiate season.

Montgomery also came to CU as a junior college transfer last season. He went through a transition phase and took some time to get comfortable at CU. He then earned his way onto the field late in the season and played in four games, which allowed him to maintain his redshirt season.

Leading the young group of outside linebackers is Jason Harris, a true freshman from Gilbert, Ariz. Although lean at 6-foot-7, 230 pounds, Harris could make an impact as a pass-rush specialist this season. A four-star recruit who picked CU over Indiana and his hometown Arizona Wildcats, Harris racked up a whopping 24 sacks as a senior and 39.5 in his prep career.

Also vying for playing time will be redshirt freshman Joshka Gustav and true freshmen Devin Grant and Alvin Williams.

Here’s an initial look at the projected outside linebackers for the 2020 season:

Position: Outside linebackers

Seniors (2019 statistics): Jash Allen, 6-foot-2, 220 pounds (28 snaps played, 1 tackle, 2 QB pressures).

Juniors: Jamar Montgomery, 6-2, 240 (25 snaps, 3 tackles, 1 sack); Guy Thomas, 6-4, 240 (JUCO transfer); Carson Wells, 6-4, 250 (10 starts, 514 snaps, 57 tackles, 1 sacks, 5 QB pressures).

Sophomores: None.

Redshirt freshmen: Joshka Gustav, 6-3, 240 (redshirted; played 3 games on special teams).

True freshmen: Devin Grant, 6-3, 230; Jason Harris, 6-7, 230; Alvin Williams, 6-3, 230.

Players lost: Nu’umotu Falo, 6-2, 240 (graduated; 1 start, 218 snaps, 9 tackles, 3 fumble recoveries); Davion Taylor, 6-2, 225 (graduated; 10 starts, 738 snaps, 69 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 8.5 TFL, 7 PBU); Alex Tchangam, 6-3, 245 (graduated; 4 starts, 322 snaps, 31 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 6 QB pressures); Jacob Callier, 6-2, 225 (transferred; 22 snaps, 1 tackle).